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Get ready for snow

Storm may drop 1 to 2 feet
Heavy snow that fell last weekend, when Durango received 15 inches of snow, made for a winter wonderland walk on Animosa Drive north of Durango. Durango is forecasted to receive another 1 to 2 feet during the next four days.

Southwest Colorado residents have become a little cynical about weather reports after storm after storm passed us by this winter.

But after more than a foot of snow fell last weekend, and with a juggernaut of a storm coming this weekend, we’ve become believers again.

The current storm will have two strong periods, one that was forecast to begin Friday night and continue into Saturday evening, and a second that will begin Sunday night and run through Monday and possibly into Tuesday.

Forecasters are predicting 1 to 2 feet of snow by Tuesday in Durango and 2 to 4 feet in the mountains, with the Wolf Creek area being particularly hard hit.

Daytime temperatures in Durango during the period will fall between 37 and 40 degrees, with lows in the 20s.

“The first day (Saturday) may be a little less snow than we originally predicted,” said John Kyle, data program acquisitions manager for the Grand Junction office of the National Weather Service. “The most recent models are showing the storm moving a little more to the south. But the 1 to 2 feet originally predicted still looks good.”

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecasts Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain passes will receive 12 to 18 inches of snow by Saturday evening alone, said Nancy Shanks, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The CAIC increased avalanche danger in the southern San Juan Mountains to “considerable.”

“If you take all the snow from the last storm and put another big storm on top of it, it’s just too much snow on those steep slopes,” Kyle said. “It would be quite hazardous if, say, a person skied out of bounds at a ski area. Particularly because if one person makes a bad decision, it affects people who go to help them.”

On Monday, a skier on Aspen Mountain became the third avalanche death this winter in Colorado after skiing out of bounds. In an incident Thursday near Ophir, two people rode out an avalanche that was about 3-feet thick at the crown and 800-feet long.

“The snowpack is already near to its tipping point,” the CAIC said in its warning. “Avalanches could be very large and destructive this weekend and into next week.”

In addition to building the snowpack and delighting skiers, snowboarders and tubers, there’s one more good thing about the storm.

“At least you’re getting it in four days and not 18 hours,” Kyle said, referring to the storms that have hit the Northeast this winter.

People are encouraged to stay off the roads if possible. Drivers can visit www.cotrip.org before setting out to check road conditions.

abutler@durangoherald.com

Feb 28, 2015
Batten down for 2nd storm


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